Police believe body found in Highlands is depressed missing doctor

Tuesday 24 April 2007 22:22 BST

Dr David Hughes disappeared a week ago. He was due to be sent to the Gulf

Police believe they have found the body of a depressed doctor who disappeared a week ago.

The body will be formally identified today. Police think it is that of Dr David Hughes, 37, a Surgeon Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, who disappeared after completing a nightshift in Livingston, Lothian.

The body was found yesterday during a major search in the Highlands which was launched after the Edinburgh anaesthetist's abandoned car was discovered near Braemar, Aberdeenshire.

Dr Hughes went missing on April 18 after leaving St John's Hospital in Livingston in a depressed state.

The father-of-three had been working 85-hour weeks, rarely seeing his family and was also recently told he was being sent back to the Gulf with the Navy.

A Grampian Police Mountain Rescue team discovered the body yesterday evening in a tent about five miles from the Linn of Quioch car park, where Dr Hughes' Ford Mondeo was found.

More than 30 rescuers had been combing the hills near the beauty spot, with dogs and a helicopter also looking for the missing doctor.

The search was called off after the find, which police said left Dr Hughes's family devastated.

During tearful appeals earlier yesterday for news of his whereabouts, his wife Joanne, 34, said she was convinced his long hours and job stress had contributed to him going missing.

After the body's discovery yesterday, a spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Further examination and tests need to be done before we can formally identify the person.

"Tragically with the discovery of David Hughes's car nearby we believe it is likely to be him. The family are naturally devastated at this turn of events."